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// Sonata Good Plan 
// Story: Asiren to Greatness 
// by Wanderling 
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The latest little diner that the three disgraced sirens had found themselves in could be summed up in a word: grey. The paint on the walls was stained by old cigarette smoke, the floors were suspiciously tacky when you stepped on them, and the flattened seat in their booth squeaked in protest as Sonata shifted her weight from one leg to the other repeatedly.

"You hear that D-sharp? I used to be able to sing that D-sharp." The blue-skinned girl slumped forwards abruptly, and whined like a dog who had just been informed of an impending trip to the vet.

"Ugh, will you give it a break already? It's been like, a year and nothing we've done's got our powers back." Aria folded her arms and gave Sonata a baleful glare. A glare that had absolutely no impact because all Sonata could see at that moment was the slightly stained surface of the table.

"Hey, this coffee mark looks like a taco!"

Adagio massaged the bridge of her nose and tried to ignore the waitress at the bar who had been giving the girls the stinkeye for the last half an hour at least. Definitely since Sonata had discovered the 'singing' seat. She turned away from her companions and tried to peer through the window, but it looked as though the glass hadn't been cleaned in years. No good.
Adagio glanced at the waitress, but it looked as though her attention had been pulled away by a canoodling couple in the only other occupied booth who were getting just a little bit too enthusiastic. She spared a small grimace of disgust at the thought. The people here were ruled by their hormones and emotions. It had been so easy to manipulate them. A little brush of the fingers here, a melodic laugh there, a carefully angled flutter of the eyelashes, and she and her sisters would have these foolish mortals eating out of their hands.
Now they couldn't even charm their way into a free meal. 
Sure, they could giggle and flutter and brush, but there was no magic to back it up, which meant they had to put in effort. Too much effort.

"Don't lick the table, Sonata! Oh my god."

All of the Sirens' attempts to restore their mind-bending musical magic since their pendants had been smashed had failed. There simply wasn't enough magic in this miserable world to restore their jewels, unless you counted the area around the portal to Equestria. Of course, that place was a no-go zone, considering who else might be around the portal.

"It tastes like soap, burning and... huh. I'm getting notes of dead squirrel."

"So, exactly like a normal taco, then?"

"How dare you."

The seat screeched a slightly sad C as Sonata launched herself at Aria, and the two girls began to pull each other's hair.

Adagio ground her teeth as she thought about those insufferable Rainbooms, and their precious purple pony princess. Those Rainbooms, with their ridiculous sentiments about harmony and togetherness and unity. Those Rainbooms, with their friendship and their hugs and their magic.

"Geddoff me you whiny little taco addict!"

"Make me, you anti-taco heathen!"

"ARIA! SONATA! SHUT YOUR SHARK HOLES!"

Adagio's eyes shot open wide as she glared, and she slammed her fists onto the table. The other two, the overly affectionate couple, and the waitress on the other side of the room all jumped at the loud noise. Adagio flexed her fingers and winced. She leant in across the table towards her sisters. 

"Girls," hissed Adagio. "I'm trying to come up with a way to get our powers back and you won't stop talking." 

"Oh yeah? Because every other plan has been brilliant so far," Aria raised an eyebrow and began tugging her fingers free of Sonata's ponytail. 

"You think so, Ari? I - ow! - thought they were pretty bad," said Sonata, as she pried her own hands out of the tangles she had inflicted.

"Well, go on then," Adagio waved her hand towards her sisters. "Why doesn't one of you make the plan for a change. Ought to be worth a laugh at least."

Aria sat back with folded arms, making sure to elbow Sonata just a little. "We can't use our powers without our jewels, Adagio, and we can't fix our jewels without magic. There's no point coming up with anything else. We should just give up already and try to live like normal humans or something." 

"Then let's get some magic to fix our jewels!" Sonata clapped her hands together and beamed. "Wow, plans are easy!"

"Where," sighed Adagio. "Are you going to find the magic?"

"From the-! By the-!" Sonata scratched her head and frowned. "Wow, plans are hard."

"This is why I'm the one who-"

"WAIT!" Sonata screeched, lurching across to table to grab Adagio's hands. "I KNOW WHAT TO DO!"

Sonata let go of her sister and scrambled back to stand up on the creaky booth seat in a triumphant pose. 

"Sonata, what the ever living-"

"We should ask the Rainbooms for the Magic of Friendship!" Sonata sat down abruptly, a huge smile plastered onto her face. "Isn't it the best idea ever?"

"No," said Aria.

Sonata stuck her tongue out at the purple ex-Siren. "I'm serious, guys, with their magic our jewels would be fixed in minutes!"

Adagio closed her eyes and counted to ten. "Do you expect to just walk up to them and just... ask for magic?"

"Uh, no? We're like, their complete, uh, antidissertation and they'd probably throw the big shiny alicorn at us again." Sonata's smile still hadn't wavered.

Aria's raised eyebrow returned, this time directed towards the girl sitting beside her. "Did you mean antithesis?"

Sonata shrugged. "Who cares! Look, girls, I think it's time we turned to the side of good. We've struggled hard over this past year and had a lot of time to think about what we've done, and now? We're oh-so-very sorry! We were wrong and we want to turn over a new leaf! Won't you Rainbooms give us just a teensy-weensy itty-bitty chance to show you we can be friends?"

Adagio opened her mouth. "What th-"

"Then they'll say yes and accept us and we will earn their trust and they'll teach us how to use their weird Friendship Magic to fix our jewels, and then we can take them for everything they've got! Or just leave and not get hit by the Pony-up Pals and their giant sparklesona again."

Adagio hadn't closed her mouth, and now it hung open with mild awe. "You know... that's... not a terrible plan."

"Are you kidding me, Dagi that's a horrible plan. That's the worst plan! You're the worst Siren, Sonata!"

"I am so not a the worst!" Sonata dissolved into giggles. "It's so not a bad plan!"

Aria groaned, but Adagio's mind was racing.

"It could work, but we don't know if they'll buy it no matter how good our acting skills are. They'll never stop being suspicious if we can't find a way to prove our good intentions. Any ideas?" She looked across the table at the other two.

"How about: don't go near the people who tried to ruin our lives, for one?"

"Aw, come on Ari, don't be such a flatfish. Ooh, we should buy tacos!"

"For the Rainbooms?" The purple girl looked unconvinced.

"Uh, no? For me? Why would we give them any tacos?"

Adagio turned her attention away from her companions and cast around the diner for some sort of inspiration. Sure, they could get their rivals a meal or two as a peace offering, but it didn't have the right sort of impact.
Her eyes fell upon the couple who had finally abandoned each other's faces in favour of some slightly soggy-looking pancakes. Not exactly the best trade-off for them, the ex-siren thought as her mouth curved into a predatory grin.

"Girls. I know what to do."